Big Deal

What is this big deal with the US of A. Is it the stuff dreams are made of? Or is it the zenith of the average Indians desires. Well its nearly that, otherwise what could explain our film-makers fetish with this country. My first brush with NY was through the movie 'Ruksath'in the late 80s. Since then scores of movies have used the Manhattan skyline at night as an opening visual or at the end during the credits. And to come to thing of Mr. Karan Johar - his movies have to be set in New York city, no less; with at least a song picturised on The Brooklyn Bridge. I mean, give me a break from this visual travesty - there are far more beautiful places in this country to outlive the USA fetish. And please leave Brooklyn bridge in its state - not sure how long it will be able to bear the weight of Mr Johar's troupe. Somehow we Indians can never be happy with ourselves, our land, our language, our success our even our culture. Why does one have to live in this country to be successful - Cannot one be succesful back home (Maybe he would be 1/40 times succesful - going by the current dollar to ruppee exchange rate), but the potrayal seems to be that you have to stay in NY city or be a cook in Australia to be called a succesful, eligible "bachelor" (Not to forget a 40 something father of two, who plays a "College student", has to play basketfall and soccer in college in every movie to prove that old age is second childhood)

All this would have probably made sense 30-40 years back but not now what with the reverse brain drain and all that jazz....

Somehow this indo-angleic, "Yo Man" syndrome syndrome has crept into our music industry as well. Weird lyrics, weirder music, nasal singing, and a lot of noise passing as rythm is passed off as song these days. The other day heard a song my colleague was humming :"hey Shona"... Music was hummable, lyrics were insipid, but what intrigued me was the title of the Hey Shona. What is that supposed to mean????

I can understand the Bong Connection of Mukherjee's out here - ('Shaan'tanu Makherjee, Rani Mukherjee)but was trying to dig deeper into this. is it 'Eshona' (Come Here in Bengali), Heshona (Dont Laugh) or Hey Shona (Shona being the most commonly used sub for SweetHeart in Bengali - I guess the fetish of the yellow metal got a lot to do with this). Anyway whatever be the 'bi'-lingual meaning of this; would request Mr. Johar to have a few cups of 'Koffee'and leave the Brooklyn bridge as it is....

Mix and Match

"Would you know my name
If I saw you in heaven
Will it be the same
If I saw you in heaven
I must be strong, and carry on
Cause I know I don't belong
Here in heaven ...................."


The words and the lyrics were so familiar, yet the setting did not match the song. Chalk and cheese will be a clichéd adage but that’s what came to my mind when I heard Clapton in this Thai eatery. Here I am sitting in a city called Longmont, CO waiting for my lunch before setting off for the Rockies (Rocky Mountain National Park for the uninitiated). Being the foodie I am and given the fact that i am a sucker for Thai cuisine, have visited quite a Thai joints in this country with names ranging from Puket cafe, Thai Express to the more creative Pho Boston Thai (Whatever that is supposed to men). In most places I have visited play the familiar titillating music which sounds typically like cups being clanged together and a female voice crying coz the cups broke. Forgive me, but that’s not soothing even for my Cosmo music taste. Read that the two major forms of Thai music are luk thung and mor lam, not sure which one of these was that Cuppa clash.

If the Clapton's Tears in Heaven in Thai Kitchen was intriguing Shakira's Ojos Asi was a shocker, so much so that I called up the waitress and asked her about it. She confided that Clapton and Shakira numbers cater to both the English and Spanish speaking clientele so it makes a wise business decision to play them.

My American colleagues love Kingfisher beer, they say its refreshingly different from the American Ales. So all Indian Restaurants stock that bottled in New York (!!), served with a curry that’s laced with barbeque sauce and vinegar (Vindaloo!!!!????) and Kishore Kumar's popular number. But even there during the lunch hours the songs are sometimes R&B, reggae and Rock.

In some weird way this cultural confluence is inevitable but sparing a thought for the same is worthwhile. So chefs suggest some kinda Wine to digest spicy food (ppl forgot the granny's suggestion regarding Curd), Italian joints serve margarita and the list goes on. Well.... maybe am a bit too old fashioned.
In this country, I daresay, the melting pot of all the cultures of the world mixing and matching for the sake of business is a predominant factor. And it makes good sense too. So be it........